Conventional macro network platforms that provide service to mobile devices (e.g., user equipment (UE)) contend with mobility of the UE when providing communication services. Networks (e.g., long term evolution (LTE) technologies) utilize an automatic neighbor relations (ANR) feature to establish neighbor relations between nodes of the network (e.g., eNodeBs) based on measurement reports from UEs in the operator network. Traditional ANR mechanisms are designed for single-layer networks where cells are of similar size (e.g., macro network cells) and importance for real-time mobility. Multi-layer heterogeneous networks, including macro cell networks, pico cell networks, Femto cell networks, Metro cell networks, etc., do not fit this model. Large cells may be presented with additional, infrequently-used, small cell neighbors to manage. If those small cell neighbor relations are persistent in nature, the large cell neighbor lists are truncated or can become too large to broadcast in a timely fashion. This can prevent mobile stations from identifying sites that are potential handover candidates, and adversely affect mobile handover performance.